Close as Strangers (5SOS fanfic)

Change of Heart

It's been a whole six months since you left them. You're laying down on your bed scrolling through twitter on your phone, when you start to scroll past a bunch of pictures of the boys out at a party. You sigh and kill the app, letting your phone rest on the table next to your bed. You take out that damn piece of paper and sigh.

living his dream through florescent lights

while him and i are running out of time

You throw your head back and this time you don't hit your head, but you honestly feel like that might take the pain away if you just forgot and woke up with amnesia to just forget about every little thing. You close your eyes and lay back and start to relax just as your phone goes off. You sit up and answer it quickly, not caring who it is. But the voice surprises you. Not only is it Luke... but he appears to be sober.

"Hey y/n."

You take a breath.

"That's quite casual."

"Look. I need you."

"What."

"I'm completely sober basically for the first time since you left. I can't stand not being around you. I know I fucked up but you need to hear me out." he sniffs in and you know he's crying. "I need you here. Please. I'm begging you. Please."

"I..." you stammer.

"I knew it was a bad idea to call you." he sighs.

"No Luke wait." you try to stop him, but he hangs up.

You look down at the paper and quickly search for a pen.

through the tears

i can hear that i shouldn't have gone

every day gets harder to stay away from you

i know everything has changed

but tomorrow i'll be coming back to you

You get up and start pacing through your room. You start to pick up all the clothes from your dresser and throw them in a pile on your bed. You run downstairs and grab a suitcase and start throwing as much as you can into it. You run downstairs and out the door, locking it behind you, and hopping into your car. You begin to drive the mind-numbing six hour drive to their hotel.

By the time you get there, you realize that it's 6 am. You park the car at the hotel and walk inside. You see their tour manager eating breakfast in the lobby, so you walk over to him.

"Hey, do you know what rooms they're in?"

"Oh hey, y/n," he smiles, "Luke and Ash are in 443 and Calum and Michael are in 445"

"Thank you so much. Good seeing you." you smile, then begin walking to the elevator. You hit the fourth floor button and start tapping your foot in impatience. You get out the second you can and run over to 443. You take a breath before knocking on the door. You hear rustling and the door opens.

"Y/n?" Calum questions.

"Hey, um, isn't this Luke and Ashton's room?"

"Yeah, technically, but Luke won't sleep in Ashton's room anymore, so he's with Michael across the hall. But what are you doing here?" he says, hugging you.

"Um, change of heart?" you sigh.

"I've missed you, we all have." he smiles.

"Really?"

"Yes. Of course! I hate writing over skype I wanna write more stuff with you, but I think you have someone to talk to first." he smiles lightly, nodding his head, addressing something behind you. You turn around.

"Y/n." he states.

"Luke." you say, breathlessly. You hear Calum lightly close the door behind you.

"What are you..."

"I need to say something." you cut him off.

"Me too."

"You go first."

"Um... okay... Well... I think you already heard most of what I need to say over the phone, but I just-"

"Can I show you something?" you cut him off again.

"What?" he asks, taking his beanie off, running his hand through his hair, and placing it back on his head.

"Come here." you say, walking over to the stairs and running down the steps with Luke close behind you. You run out the door to your car and open the trunk. You grab your guitar quickly and open the case, picking it up by the neck, getting a pick, the capo, and the lyrics. You sit down in the mostly empty trunk and patting the spot next to you, showing Luke to sit next to you, and he does. You put the lyrics in between you, but Luke just looks at you. You take a breath in and begin strumming.

"six weeks since I've been away
and now you're saying everything has changed
and I'm afraid that I might be losing you
and every night that we spend alone
it kills me thinking of you on your own
and I wish I was back home next to you

oh, everyday
you feel a little bit further away
and I don't know what to say"

You take a huge breath and close your eyes to belt the chorus

"are we wasting time
talking on a broken line?
telling you I haven't seen your face in ages
i feel like we're as close as strangers
won't give up
even though it hurts so much
every night I'm losing you in a thousand faces
now it feels we're as close as strangers"

You continue changing the chords in the instrument break, but you can't bring yourself to look at him.

"late night calls and another text
is this as good as we're gonna get?
another timezone taking me away from you
living dreams in fluorescent lights
while you and I are running out of time
but you know that I'll always wait for you

oh, everyday
you feel a little bit further away
and I don't know what to say"

You look at him finally, to nod at him to show that he should join in.

"are we wasting time
talking on a broken line?
telling you I haven't seen your face in ages
i feel like we're as close as strangers
won't give up
even though it hurts so much
every night I'm losing you in a thousand faces
now it feels we're as close as strangers"

You take another breath to belt, because if you do anything less, you know your voice will crack with tears.

"on the phone
i can tell that you wanna move on
through the tears
i can hear that I shouldn't have gone
every day gets harder to stay away from you
so tell me...

are we wasting time
talking on a broken line?
telling you I haven't seen your face in ages
i feel like we're as close as strangers

wasting time
talking on a broken line
telling you I haven't seen your face in ages
i feel like we're as close as strangers
won't give up
even though it hurts so much
every night I'm losing you in a thousand faces
now it feels we're as close as strangers

six months since I went away
and I know everything has changed
but tomorrow I'll be coming back to you"

"When did you do this?" he finally asks, what seems like hours after you finish.

"It's taken me a little over six months."

"Oh." he sighs, putting his hands on his knees.

"Yeah." you say, trying to fill the empty air.

"I... um..." he begins. You take a breath and lean in closer to him to kiss him.

He grabs your cheek and pulls you in closer, if that was even possible.

"Y/n." he says as you pull away.

"Yeah?"

"I need you."

"I need you too."